The Cow-Head Demonstration: Who was ACTUALLY being insulted?

By Ken

The acts of the cow-head demonstrators were truly sacrilegious when we note that that the cow head that they paraded, kicked and spat on was from a cow which they had sacrificed earlier in the name of Allah, something halal which had been blessed by Allah. Isn’t that a very serious insult to Islam?

Many people, including Muslims, are disappointed, if not angry, with the outcome of the trial of the cow-head (pun intended) demonstrators. They feel that the demonstrators had insulted Hindus and thereby had committed a serious crime affecting racial and religious harmony in the country.

The prosecutor and presiding judge, on the other hand, viewed it otherwise as merely a minor issue, and hence freed four of the accused, slapped a fine of Ringgit 3,000 on two and imprisoned one of them for a week, and fined twelve of the demonstrators Ringgit 1,000 each. That this would be the outcome was apparent to all, except the ignorant, after the incident when the home minister, Hishamudin, openly and unashamedly supported the cow-head demonstrators.  A clearer understanding of the incident will help all to judge and respond to the judgment and whether any further action needs to be taken.

It was reported that the cow-head demonstrators had paraded and kicked a cow-head to show their anger and objection to the building of a Hindu temple in their area. They chose the cow-head for this purpose because cows were considered to be sacred in Hinduism.

The key question is whether cows are really that sacred in Hinduism. I therefore did my own research for a better understanding of the issue. I noted that a few of my Hindu friends ate MacDonald burgers and beef. I asked them whether it was ok for them to eat beef though they were Hindus. They responded that there was nothing in Hinduism to prohibit the eating of beef and that Hindus considered all life, and not just the cow, as sacred.

So it looks like that the cow is neither uniquely sacred nor is it a symbol of Hinduism. This means that the cow-head demonstrators had foolishly thought that they were insulting Hindus by parading and kicking the cow-head. In reality, they were insulting another group by desecrating something blessed.

The cow is one of the few selected animals sacrificed in the name of Allah for daily consumption and during the Haj in Mecca. By parading and kicking the cow head, the demonstrators were in fact treating the cow head like trash. Isn’t this a big insult to Islam, relegating the cow, one of the few animals acceptable for sacrifice in Islam, to the status of trash?

Without doubt, the acts of the cow-head demonstrators were truly sacrilegious when we further note that that the cow head that they paraded, kicked and spat on was from a cow which they had sacrificed earlier in the name of Allah, something halal which had been blessed by Allah. Isn’t that a very serious insult to Islam? What are the Muslims going to do to these cow-head demons-trators and their supporters who have insulted Islam and Allah?